Just Because...

Well, guess what??

Here's a clue.

Uh, no. I'm not having a baby. No way. 

But... these guys are!

Which means I'm going to be an aunt!!! 

And I had to share it just because I've been keeping the secret for a really long time! I could not be more excited. Seriously could not.

Congratulations to the happy parents and to my happy parents who are finally going to have real grandchildren, in addition to their two grand dogs. 

Get ready to see lots of baby pictures on the blog starting in April! Just because I love that little thing already!

And in other news...

My friends and I had a pumpkin pairing party tonight!

Just because we see all these cute pumpkin ideas all over Pinterest. It was so much fun! 

We started off with this...

And we ended up with this...

Here are the ones I painted.

And painted is a pretty loose term. Just sayin.

Not too much else has been going on. We start our two week Fall Break today so I'm feeling pretty good right now. Good, but tired. Just because it's been a long two months. And, october's always the point when you're like "Yeah, this is fun and all? But, so was summer. And report cards are due in, like, a day." 

And, just because I believe in posting everything I can in one post, even if they all have nothing to do with each other, I'll share some other stuff. Just because.

Just because I love her and this is my new favorite picture.

Just because it was Throwback Thursday and my mom dressed us like pilgrims.

Just because I thought it was funny that this kiddo was wearing two shout out buttons, a birthday button and a name tag. All at the same time...

Just because I think this story is cute. 

And this one.

Just because she let me put a bow in her hair for about 20 seconds.

Just because a kid told me that she didn't want to be a part of a world without pears. In all seriousness. FYI: I laughed. Because, how can you not?

Just because this kid rocked a Harry Potter shirt after school Tuesday and I was a wee bit jealous.

Just because my kiddos had so much fun making this and asked if we could do MORE research!

And, now I'm going to bed.

Just because...

Long Time, No Blog

Sorry about that. I'm still here. It's just that my computer is broken. So I'm going to blog from my phone today - not the best. But it's better than nothing, right?

And, be prepared for some randomness. Although, you guys all know that's how I roll anyways :)

First up, it's finally FALL! I love fall. I spent this afternoon doing a little decorating. I'm in love with my little house right now because all the orange makes it so cozy! 

And, when I finished, I rewarded myself with a tasty treat from Taco Bell!

I ran in Michael's this afternoon to grab something and I left with a dog Halloween costume. I know, I know. So annoying. But, I got it really cheap. And, come on. How can you resist a maltipoo dressed like a cow? A maltimoo??

Does this make me a bad person???

As far as school goes, everything's going well. I'm LOVING my sweet kiddos and we are really starting to hit our stride. One thing I've been working on is leveling all my books by AR colors. Our school is putting a huge emphasis on AR this year and my kiddos we having a hard time finding books that were on their level. So, I made it easy for them. And I'm soooo glad I did! They're all about the library now! 

They're also all about writing. I tricked them on Friday into taking a test on point of view and they didn't even realize it was a test! Ha! They wrote and wrote and wrote and I eventually had to tell them to stop because we had to move on! 

I received this cute note from a sweet little boy this week. My favorite part? When he asks if I'm a math genious. Little does he know I had to take Algebra about three times because I couldn't pass the Algebra 2 test and I had to take a remedial math course in college because of my math ACT score. So, needless to say, I've never been called a math genious before! I have been called some bad names by some very frustrated math tutors, though :) Juuust kidding. Kind of. 

Oh, and make sure you do not look at those circles! (I looove my job. No other job in the world puts you in contact with so much adorableness. Except maybe a baby koala bear holder. Is that a job? That'd be pretty adorable, too.)

I pushed all my kids desks together last week and I'm pretty sure I'll never, ever, ever go back to groups. They make me feel like I'm in a maze 24/7. My room feels HUGE now! And, bonus, we can all fit in a circle on the carpet together now. So, that's always good. 

We also had picture day. I was so impressed with all the fancy shoes! I'm pretty sure when I had picture day as a kid, my mom busted out the clean Keds for the big moment. That was as fancy as it got. I'm jealous. 

I'm going to end with some cute pics of the pup. Because, she entertains me. What can I say? 

Okay, that's all I've got. Hope you have a great week! I'll be steadily reminding myself that I have two weeks until Fall Break. I can do it, I can do it...

How You Know They're Finally Yours...

It's official. They're mine. Those kiddos I spend my entire day with are finally mine. 

I know what you're thinking if you aren't a teacher. You're thinking "Only now? They've been in your class for over a month." And, yes. They have. But, if you're a teacher, you know what I mean. 

At least I hope you do.

Maybe it's just me, but for the first few weeks, it just feels weird. I enjoy the kids and I like them and I teach them. But, it all feels weird. It doesn't feel the same as it did the year before. These new kids are strangers. They don't understand me. They don't understand our classroom climate. They don't giggle at my silly voices like my old kids and they don't act excited like my old kids and they write much sloppier than my old kids and on and on and on...

I feel like I'm going through the motions.

But, every year, without fail, it happens. I fall in love. Those kiddos who feel like strangers become MINE.

And it happened today.

Right smack in the middle of the day. 

It just hit me like a ton of bricks: we're having fun. I'm having fun. They're having fun. 

There are other signs, too. 

My kids clapped and cheered today when I told them we'd be learning about sea turtles next week. That's big in my class. It's kind of an unspoken requirement. We WILL get excited about stuff we're learning. And I mean we: me and them. Not an option, seriously. So, it warms my heart to see them starting to get super super extra pumped about stuff. A sign that they're mine...

They're pushing their chairs in. I know, it doesn't seem like a big deal. But, this year, it has been. It's just been the little things that we've struggled with. But, they're doing it. And I rarely have to remind anyone to go back and do it. A sign that they're mine...

They begged me to bring their vocabulary notebooks to the carpet today while we did our read aloud. I'm talking about the last ten minutes of the day when I read to them. With their backpacks on. And they say there today while I read Pippi Longstocking and we added vocabulary words they were curious about to their notebooks. And, again, they were pumped! I seriously couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I was reading and they were furiously writing. Kids who are engaged and excited to learn? A sign that they're mine...

I'm not saying that I am some amazing teacher who magically gets her kids to love school and everything is gumdrops and roses and every kid makes A's and all that. Far from it. In fact, I may have raised my voice today. Twice. And I may have bribed my kids to stand quietly in line with extra recess minutes today. And yesterday.

What I am saying is that it happened today. I realized that these cute little humans I spend my days with are trying really hard. They want to learn. 

And I'm SO glad that they are MINE.

We Got Skills...

 Literacy skills, that is!

 

*Before I start this post, I just want to say that there are two new posts below. I'm totally annoying, I know.*

 

Okay, literacy. Reading. Whatever. We've been doing it a ton. And, I wanted to share some of what we've been up to.

 

You ready?

 

Last week, we focused on compare/contrast. We used the idea from the Comprehension Connections book. We brought in quinoa and had the kids ask thick and thin questions to determine what it was. Then, we gave them rice and let them compare and contrast them. They were so engaged and excited!

We did lots of practice throughout the week. We did some together and then I gave them some differentiated text about two animals and let them compare/contrast the animals.

They did so good that I let them research two topics and compare/contrast them on their own! They amazed me! They researched animals, planets, storms, dinosaurs, people, etc.

 

 

Today, we started cause and effect. I made an anchor chart, but it was nothing special. We read Ruby Bridges and the kids helped me record some cause and effect from Ruby's life.

 

We've recently started using our reading notebooks to record our thinking. Here are some examples...

 

Okay, one last thing. We had to make this little thing last week because my third graders were struggling with writing complete sentences. It seems very elementary, but honestly, they needed the refresher!

 

We're slowly getting into a rhythm in room 301. It's taken us a while. But, I finally feel like we're making some progress.

 

As always, thanks for reading!

 

 



All These Things...

I'm totally going to be one of those annoying people who doesn't blog for a month and then does about 4 posts in a day. So scroll up and down to see some new posts, if you're so inclined.

 

So, all these things are what's going on over here the last few weeks...

 

 This is very blog-worthy! I cleaned my room for the FIRST TIME since school started. Terrible? Yes. Am I sorry? No.

 

 My Doodle-Bug realllllly needed a haircut!

 

 One day about two weeks ago, I made this little sucker right smack dab in the middle of the Reading Block. Yes, I did. Because, my kiddos were just about to kill each other. And, I know LOVE this little contraption. It makes my life a lot easier. The kids love it, too. Because they get to sit in fun places like the windowsill and on top of desks. It's pretty exciting, I do admit.  (I did not come up with this idea, btw. I've seen them all over Pinterest!)

 

 This is what I stare at all afternoon. Every afternoon. Just so you know...

 

 Our school is having a fundraiser. And, I just felt really strongly that I should help the kids. Yes, that's it. It's all for the kids. It's a crying shame I had to eat all that chocolate :(

 

Two weekends ago, my parents and I went to have breakfast with my grandpa. Isn't he the cutest thing ever?

 Well done, IHOP. Well done.

 

 Back at my grandpa's house, my dad and aunts did some cleaning. We found a HUGE box of my grandmother's jewelry. I found this "R" pin in one of the boxes. It's a pin from the Ravens, my brother's rival team when he was about 11-15 years old. There is no rivalry quite as large as the rivalry between middle school aged baseball travel teams. So, I was surprised that she kept this pin! And, there wasn't a Bandit pin to be found! Ha.

 

The vacuum cleaner may or may not have nearly exploded.

 I picked out a nice stack of vintage bangles. I love them! Especially because they were my grandmother's.

 

 I also got a MAJOR stack of Little Golden Books for my school library!

 

 

That night, there were hot air balloons above my neighborhood. I was on a walk with my mom and I ran back to the house to grab my phone to take a picture. Sadly, this was the only one left!

 The Finster finally got her haircut! And, it is SHORT!

 

 So short, in fact, that I had to put pajamas on her because she was shaking! Ha. I keep my air on 67, so no hair = very cold, apparently!

 

 But, she didn't like my idea. No pajamas. Point taken.

 

 Last Wednesday, my mom came to get Finley during the day and she left me a little surprise! Isn't it so cute? Thanks, Mama!

 

 This is what I treat myself to when I complete my first observation of the year. Think I was excited to get that thing over with???

 

 Thursday, I received the sweetest darn note I've ever gotten from a kid at school. It made my day. Seriously.

 

And, Thursday night, we had a Family Literacy Night at school. The place was PACKED!

This is my classroom FULL of children while their parents learned how to help them be better readers at home. This is just the front of the room. And, there were about 6 other classrooms full of children. Uh-mazing!

 

Well, was that random or what?? Ha. Thanks for peeking in on my incredibly boring, but busy, life!